RED SEAWEEDS 89 



and dividing rapidly, forming a densely tufted mass, which collapses 

 when taken from the water j color purple-brown ; when mounted, silky 

 in appearance ; filaments banded ; siphons six in number. It forms 

 purple tufts on woodwork and on eel-grass from Cape Cod southward. 



P. Woodii. Fronds four to six inches high ; branches flat, long, 

 wide-spreading, emanating from the edges in one plane ; younger 

 branches show articulations ; ultimate branchlets inclined to curve in- 

 ward : color light brown. Found on the California coast. (Plate 

 XXVII.) 



GENUS Laurencia 



L. pinnatlfida. Frond flat, thick, leathery; main stem with oppo- 

 site, or alternate, branches of about the same size and character as 

 itself ; all pinnatifld, or cut on the edges into branchlets, some of which 

 are again divided; color bright purple, often unevenly faded. It is 

 found on the Pacific coast. (Plate XXVIII.) 



GENUS Dasya 



Chenille- weed. 



_D. elegans. Fronds from six inches to three yards long; main .stem 

 and branches cylindrical, and all densely clothed with a fine, hair-like 

 fringe, which gives the plant the appearance of chenille ; eystocarps on 

 stalks along the branches ; color pink or lake-red. Out of water it 

 seems like a mass of purple jelly. It is found at or just below low-water 

 mark from Cape Cod southward, and is very plentiful in New York Bay. 

 (Plate XXVIII.) 



>. plutnosa. A species found on the California coast. The fringe 

 covering the stems consists of minute leaflets instead of hairs, as in 

 D. elegans. (Plate XXVIII.) 



GENUS Sostrychia 



B. rivularis. Fronds one inch high ; color dark purple ; branches 

 fine and irregularly bent. It grows where the water is not very salt, and 

 is found in patches on submerged logs near New York. Common from 

 Charleston, South Carolina, southward. (Plate XXIX.) 



GENUS Rhodomela 



M. subfusca. Frond six to eighteen inches long ; main stem cylin- 

 drical, and branching widely on all sides ; branches longest at base and 

 gradually shortening to the top of the stem ; branches naked below, but 

 at the ends profusely branched, forming tufts of branchlets. It is a 

 perennial plant, and changes in aspect with the season. When mature 

 it is stiff and coarse, and when dry it is quite black. Common from New 

 York northward. 



K. Rochet. This species resembles in form R. subfusca, but is much 

 finer and more delicate. In spring it is a soft, fine, feathery, and beau- 



